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The psychology behind serial killers
The psychology behind serial killers
The psychology behind serial killers
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The Zodiac Killer: A Scientific Case Study Alyshah Dhanji Seneca College Instructor: Ginette Boudreau Date: November 13, 2017 Course: LSO802 The Zodiac Killer: A Scientific Case Study One of America’s infamous serial killers, The Zodiac Killer, also known as Zodiac, murdered victims in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Till this day, the identity of the Zodiac Killer remains unknown and the case is still open with the San Francisco Police Department, in the city of Vallejo, Napa County and Solano County. This notorious killer took pride in taunting law enforcement with coded messages that remain unsolved until today. According to Butterfield (2017), the Zodiac Killer’s timeline of murders started on October …show more content…
These factors are categorized into biological factors, psychological factors and psychosocial factors. Firstly, biological factors involve one’s genes, nervous system and endocrine system. Since the Zodiac Killer was never caught, it is unknown at this point how his genetic material could be related to his criminal behaviour. We cannot be certain if any of this family members had psychological disorders, or if he inherited any genes for antisocial personality traits. Secondly, psychological factors include the gender and sexuality of the criminal, their cognition, their motivations and emotions and their moral thinking and personality. From the facts the police do have, the Zodiac Killer was a Caucasian male, which fits the majority of statistics according to the Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database (2016). It can also be concluded that perhaps the Zodiac Killer lacked intimate relationships of his own and therefore mostly targeted young couples who were in love. In both cases where young couples were attacked, the women both died, however the men survived. The Zodiac Killer also showed high levels of intelligence as no one could solve the ciphers he sent in to the local newspapers. These coded messages motivated him to continue killing as he was able to taunt the police with another “win”. Lastly, psychosocial factors touch on family and peers, psychosocial …show more content…
G. (2016, September 4). Serial killer statistics. Retrieved November 11, 2017, from http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/serial killer information center/project description.htm American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub. Biography.com Editors. (2017, November 09). Zodiac Killer Biography.com. The Biography.com website. Retrieved November 11, 2017, from https://www.biography.com/people/zodiac-killer-236027 Bonn, S. A. (2015, September 21). The Zodiac and Other Thrill Killers. Retrieved November 11, 2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201509/the-zodiac-and-other-thrill-killers Butterfield, M. (2017, November 08). The Zodiac Killer: A Timeline. Retrieved November 11, 2017, from http://www.history.com/news/the-zodiac-killer-a-timeline Cleckley, H. (1976). The mask of sanity: An attempt to clarify some issues about the so-called psychopathic personality. St. Louis, MO: Mosby. Inc. (Original work published 1941). Hare, Robert. D. (1993). Without conscience: The disturbing world of the psychopaths among us. Guilford Press. McCrary, G. (2007). Profile of the Zodiac Killer, Retrieved November 11, 2017, from
Arndt, W., Hietpas, T., & Kim, J (2004). Critical characteristics of male serial murderers. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 29(1).
Bardsley, Marilyn. "Murder!" Charles Manson and the Manson Family — — Crime Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
An analysis of the most famous murderers and serial killers in the Chicago area shows varying degrees of psychopathy or mental illnesses, which ultimately contribute to homicidal conduct. Analysis also shows that the paths of serial killers have a tendency to converge.... ... middle of paper ... ...
For my book report, I have read and evaluated Dr. Hales book titled Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us, published by The Guilford Press. The purpose of the book was to bring awareness to psychopaths that live among us and will be describe in farther details in the paper. I will evaluated the purpose, strengths, weakness of the book and include a summarized portion for others to understand.
The Zodiac Killer is an unidentified man who is presumed to be a serial killer that operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Murdering at least five people, but the Zodiac claims to have killed upwards of 37 people in total. In 1969 the Zodiac Killer began sending letters to the Bay Area newspapers, taking credit for the five killings and threatening further violence. The Zodiac Killer would call and send cryptic letters to the law enforcement agencies in Northern California, taunting them since they were unable to bring him to justice. The police had suspects but none that they could ever charge for the murders, due to lack of evidence, so this mystery still remains unsolved. The cultural impact that the Zodiac Killer has had on tv, movies and the media is still around today and has had many shows and movies remade after what this killer did. The cultural impact as well as for the families of the victims still remains today with still no closure, for those families who live in Northern California still there is the fear that crosses the minds on how such an awful criminal was once a part of their society, someone they may
The killer has to be Bruce Davis. First off, he lived by Lake Tahoe where A girl went missing. After the disappearance, he moved away. Now people could say this happens to be just a coincidence but let this prove it more. When he moved away he moved again. This time in California where he spent most of his time at Newport Beach. A girl named Cheri Jo Bates favorite place to go just so happened to be Newport beach. She went very frequently. the final reason will be he worked at Riverside college during renovations from 1965 to 1967. In this time, the girl Cherri Jo Bates got murdered at riverside college. Bruce had also gone off the grid a year earlier. Now with the evidence, everyone will agree with the facts. Bruce Davis has to be the zodiac
“Without Conscience" by Robert D. Hare is one aimed towards making the general public aware of the many psychopaths that inhabit the world we live in. Throughout the book Hare exposes the reader to a number of short stories; all with an emphasis on a characteristic of psychopaths. Hare makes the claim that close monitoring of psychopathy are vital if we ever hope to gain a hold over Psychopathy- A disorder that affects not only the individual but also society itself. He also indicates one of the reasons for this book is order to correctly treat these individuals we have to be able to correctly identify who meets the criteria. His ultimate goal with the text is to alleviate some of the confusion in the increase in criminal activity by determining how my of this is a result of Psychopathy.
The mysterious person did not have a real name because no one was able to identify him. The murder gave his a name which was the Zodiac Killer. The Zodiac Killer was responsible for five murders in California during the late 1960s. The Zodiac Killers first two murders was on December of 1968 in Benicia, California. David Farraday, who was 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, who was 16, were the first two of a series of murders by the Zodiac Killer. The two of them were inside a parked, when the Zodiac Killer came up behind them and shot them. A similar case happened to the next victim of the mysterious killer. The following year, on July 4, 1969, another couple were shot dead in their car, in Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, California. 22 year old Darlene Ferrin was shot dead, but Michael Mageau, who was 19 years old survived the shots. The strange thing after these murders is that the police received a phone call from an unidentified person that confessed to murdering those people. The next killings occurred two months later, on September 27, 1969. Two couples were also in a parked car in Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Cecelia Shepard and Brian Hartnell were shot at by the killer, but Brian Hartnell, who was 20 years old survived the mu...
The media generally portrays the prototypical serial killer through the lens of two extremes. They can either have an incapacitating mental illness or be brilliant, but severely troubled, geniuses. Yet, neither of these two stereotypes are accurate, as serial killers generally display signs of psychopathy, which is not considered a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. Despite the erroneousness of Hollywood’s movies and television shows, many psychologists and lawmakers are still considering the degree to which psychopaths can be considered responsible for their actions. In “Psychopathy and Culpability: How Responsible Is the Psychopath for Criminal Wrongdoing?” researchers Adam R. Fox, Trevor H. Kvaran, and Reid Griffith Fontaine attempt to draw conclusions from evidence on whether or not psychopaths meet the criteria for full criminal responsibility. Other researchers, such as Scott E. Culhane, Sage M. Hilstad, Adrienne Greng, and Matt J. Gray, use a case study to demonstrate that psychopathy is not synonymous with serial killers and that mental illness cannot necessarily be used in criminal cases to justify murder in their research paper titled “Self-Reported Psychopathology in a Convicted Serial Killer.” In the remaining two articles
A majority of these individuals are linked through commonalities of their childhood as well as their personality traits and behaviors. The serial murderer’s personality is an intricate recipe of biological, environmental and social circumstances. Though early abuse can cause feelings of aggression and delinquency, childhood experiences alone cannot be to blame. Many people are abused early on as children, and never become killers. Similarly, biological issues, such as brain abnormalities, as we as certain personality disorders would not individually create a murderer. Rather, a distinctive combination of psychological issues, impairments in the brain, and personality disorders help mold a brutal serial killer. Killers cannot be simply born into this world, but under the right circumstances, they will be created.
Psychopathy was first written about by psychiatrist Philippe Pinel in the early 19th century. He referred to it as “insanity without delirium” and described individuals suffering from this as being “morally neutral”. In 1941, Hervey Cleckley wrote a book 'The Mask of Sanity' which is today considered as the cornerstone of the study of psychopaths. He wrote that the psychopath is capable of “concealing behind a perfect mimicry of normal emotion, fine intelligence, and social responsibility, a grossly disabled and irresponsible personality.” This supports the theory that not only is talk therapy inadequate as a treatment, but on the contrary it has the potential to make the condition worse as it enables the individual to practice the art of manipulation. Today worldwide, we use a checklist c...
Mitchell, Heather, and Michael G. Aamodt. "The incidence of child abuse in serial killers." Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology 20.1 (2005): 40-47.
Behavior is sometimes defined as the response of an individual, group, or species to its environment. Parents, girlfriends, sisters, brothers, and peers can all affect a person's behavior. Not everybody necessarily will have the behavior of a serial killer. In this paper, I will attempt to show the difference between the psychopath and the psychotic. Explain how the environment, upbringing, and treatment of serial killers led them to become who they are today.
Serial killers differ from other types of murderers. The number of serial killers in the U.S. is staggering. Differences are clear between serial killing and conventional murders. Serial killing can be classified as either motive based or organizational and social based. The Holmes Typology helps to understand the motivations behind serial killing. Serial killers may be even motivated by fame as part of their motivation for killing. John Wayne Gacy could be seen as evil due to his repeated violent acts. Jeffrey Dahmer was also evil by committing his acts of serial murders. Both Gacy and Dahmer had police records prior to their arrests for serial murders. Serial killers are poor candidates for rehabilitation. Their acts are evil.
Between the late 1960s and early 1970s, northern California has been terrorized by the notorious “Zodiac Killer”. “I like killing people because it is so much fun. It is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because mn is the most dangerous animal of them all,’ said the Zodiac Killer. The cold hard truth is that the identity of the Zodiac Killer remains a mystery to this day.